A-Rod’s Drug Testing

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez took testosterone lozenges before games. He applied testosterone cream every evening and injected H.G.H. regularly. And yet he never failed a drug test. Evidence that he broke antidoping rules surfaced through other channels. In January 2013, The Miami New Times linked a “rejuvenation” clinic — Biogenesis of America — to Rodriguez and other players, putting in motion an investigation by Major League Baseball, which culminated in a 162-game suspension for Rodriguez and an official report, released last week, detailing his regimen.

Nor was he the only player to use drugs and evade detection. A majority of the players suspended in the current scandal pulled off the same feat. This might seem like an indictment of M.L.B.’s testing process, which Biogenesis-founder Anthony Bosch called “almost a cakewalk” in a recent interview with “60 Minutes.”

But in fairness to the league, the tests weren’t a cakewalk for everyone. Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon, among other players, failed. And league officials have adapted quickly to doping innovations. Through 2012, the league flagged tests for further review if a player’s testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio exceeded four to one. Players like Rodriguez apparently found it possible to stay within acceptable levels by using fast-acting synthetic testosterone. Once the league recognized this fact, in early 2013, it switched to a “biological passport” system. Now it tracks ratios over time, and flags fluctuations.

It is hard to say whether the new protocol could have caught Mr. Rodriguez and other Biogenesis clients. No major-league player tested positive for steroids in 2013, which might mean that the process is a deterrent, or that some players have already found a loophole. There is always more the league could do to root out steroid use, like more routine use of the highly sensitive carbon isotope test. But realistically, it may be that testing alone will never be enough, and that other methods, like investigations by journalists or the league, will always play a role.